Government Tables Viksit Bharat Rozgar–Ajeevika Mission Bill 2025, Proposes 125 Days of Guaranteed Rural Employment

Government Tables Viksit Bharat Rozgar–Ajeevika Mission Bill 2025, Proposes 125 Days of Guaranteed Rural Employment

The Union Government on Tuesday introduced the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill 2025 in the Lok Sabha, marking a major overhaul of rural employment policy.

The proposed legislation aims to replace the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, and align rural employment and infrastructure creation with the long-term national vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.

Under the new Bill, every rural household whose adult members are willing to undertake unskilled manual work will be entitled to a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year, an increase from the existing 100-day provision under MGNREGA.

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The legislation aims to promote empowerment, inclusive growth, convergence of schemes and saturation of benefits to build a prosperous and resilient rural India.

All works undertaken under the proposed law will be integrated into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, creating a unified national framework for planning, execution and monitoring of rural public works.

Priority will be given to water security projects, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related assets, and special works focused on disaster preparedness and mitigation of extreme weather events, with the objective of creating durable and productive rural assets.

Introducing the Bill, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the government is working to realise Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of self-reliant villages and the concept of Ram Rajya.

He said that while the UPA government spent around ₹2.13 lakh crore on MGNREGA, the Modi government has spent more than ₹8.53 lakh crore on the scheme, strengthening rural employment and infrastructure.

Mr Chouhan said the new Bill proposes a financial outlay of over ₹1.51 lakh crore and is designed to ensure comprehensive village development. He emphasised that the legislation will help build self-reliant and developed rural areas, while accelerating the pace of rural transformation in line with national goals.

The Bill also provides for institutionalised convergence of various government schemes through a unified planning process anchored in Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans, and includes provisions to ensure the availability of farm labour during peak agricultural seasons.

The Central Government will notify wage rates under the new framework, and until then, existing MGNREGA wage rates will continue to apply. An unemployment allowance will be payable if employment is not provided within 15 days, continuing a key worker protection measure.